BAY CITY, MI — One member of a trio charged with scrawling graffiti on the underside of Bay City's Liberty Bridge has pleaded to a misdemeanor.

Scott L. Williams, 19, on Friday appeared in Bay County District Court and pleaded guilty to malicious destruction of property less than $200, a charge punishable by up to 93 days in jail or a fine of $500 or three times the value of the damaged property. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss counts of malicious destruction of property between $200 and $1,000 and conspiracy to commit that crime.

District Judge Mark E. Janer is slated to sentence Williams at 9 a.m. on Sept. 13.

Bay City police in the early morning of June 6 discovered Williams, Michael A. "Myke" Gonzales, 25, Brian P. Seidl, 20, and a 37-year-old man beneath Liberty Bridge, using spray paint to decorate the concrete structure with what police described as politically-themed slogans. The graffiti included such phrases as "Wake Up," "Brake Free," "One Love," "Inform Yourself" and "Build the new world."

Gonzalez and Seidl are also charged with malicious destruction of property between $200 and $1,000 and conspiracy to commit that crime.

Prosecutors offered Gonzalez the same deal as Williams, but he declined to accept it in a hearing before Janer last week. Gonzalez told the judge he wanted to meet with prosecutors himself and discuss the matter, though his attorney, Jeffrey Martin, advised him that if he represented himself to the prosecution, anything he said to them could be used against him.

Janer set Gonzalez for a Cobbs hearing, wherein a judge informs a defendant of a likely sentence if a plea deal is accepted. The closed-door hearing is scheduled for Aug. 20.

Seidl is set to appear before Janer to accept or reject a plea offer at 1:30 p.m. today.